LinuxCon: Where's Linux Headed?

What's next for Linux? The open source software is constantly being improved, but is it ready for the next set of challenges?

At LinuxCon this week, a panel of representatives from Red Hat, Google, Novell and Oracle discussed some of the important issues developers will face as the popular software evolves. Linux Planet has the details framed succinctly by one panelist who said: "I don't think that we have any lack of interesting technical challenges moving forward."

Another panelist explained why he thinks it's become much more difficult for new people to get involved in contributing to the Linux kernel.

BOSTON -- Where exactly is the Linux kernel heading?

Here at the LinuxCon conference, a panel of Linux kernel developers from Red Hat, Google, Novell and Oracle discussed what's next for the ecosystem, and why not every kernel debuts with a big new feature.

Google developer Ted Ts'o said that the coming of very large multiple CPU cores on chips will be a challenge that Linux developers will have to address. He added that scalability, a concern that Linux kernel developers had largely considered a solved problem, will require work for the next generation of chip scalability.